Wayne Metcalf

When you do it in the context of family , it gives you more of a sense of completeness for yourself , says Wayne Metcalf , director of the Church's Family History Department.

Look Good . . . Feel Better Program Helps Member With Cancer - LA Times.

"When you do it in the context of family, it gives you more of a sense of completeness for yourself," says Wayne Metcalf, director of the Church's Family History Department.

Look Good . . . Feel Better Program Helps Member With Cancer - LA Times

When you do it in the context of family , it gives you more of a sense of completeness for yourself , says Wayne Metcalf , a director in the family and church history department for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.The Mormons , who believe that tracing family history is part of their religious mission , volunteered some 12 , 000 church members to transcribe the passenger manifests for the Ellis Island project.

To be sure , when first- , second- and third-generation Americans struggle to explain this compulsion for gathering Ellis Island information , the motivations tumbling out are much the same : pride in an ancestor's life-altering decision , the desire to assemble a lasting family history , a gnawing hunger for detail.

There's just a feeling , some kind of need.I don't know if closure is the word.

Wayne Metcalf, Director of the Field Services and Support Division for the Family and Church History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, discusses the priorities of the acquisition program of the Genealogical Society of Utah.